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Todd Eric Allen

Todd Eric Allen

Todd Eric Allen is the Artistic Director/CEO of the Northwest Florida Ballet. He grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Florida and began his training in classical ballet at the age of 14 with Bernadette Clements. One year later he received a scholarship to attend the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, where he studied for five consecutive years; he attended Virginia Intermont College as a scholarship student and was awarded a Dance Magazine Scholarship in 1985 to the Choreographer’s Conference in Geneva, New York.

Mr. Allen has danced with the Louisville Ballet, Boston Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and has performed as a guest artist and teacher throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He has also had the honor of performing at the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., on two separate occasions, for Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. Allen has an extensive background in the classics and Balanchine ballets, and has performed featured roles in ballets by Elisa Monte, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Hans Van Manen and Lucinda Hughey. In May of 2000 Mr. Allen was one of fourteen dancers asked to perform in Ocean Dance 2000 featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project. In 2004 he was invited to perform with the Broadway cast in the Tony Award winning Musical, Movin’ Out, choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp, music by Billy Joel.

He has choreographed 30 original works and classical ballets and 8 operas, has taught at The USA International Ballet Competition and many master classes and workshops in the US and internationally and has served on the jury of NBA Ballet’s Japanese National Ballet Competition in Tokyo, Japan.

In the summer of 1995 Todd returned to his hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Florida as Artistic Director/CEO of the Northwest Florida Ballet. Over the past 20 years, he has committed himself to his community by developing young minds and bodies through innovative dance education programs, creating an awareness of dance in Northwest Florida and exposing his audiences to a variety of classical and contemporary works. In 2003 Mr. Allen received the Cox Bravo Champion of the Arts Award in Northwest Florida for his work in establishing the NFB Académie, a free academic and artistic education elementary and middle school. He has also received the Elvie DeMarko Dance Achievement Award from The Arts Council of Northwest Florida and has served on various grant panels in the state of Florida for the Division of Cultural Affairs and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation in Baltimore, Md. His groundbreaking work in arts education was featured in Dance Teacher magazine (Nov, 2004) and in Teacher Magazine, a Department of Education publication (May 2005). The Northwest Florida Ballet is now one of the largest and most respected arts organizations in Northwest Florida and has received national recognition for its innovative programs.

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Sharon Allen

Sharon Allen

Sharon Allen, is currently the assistant director of Northwest Florida Ballet and holds a BFA in Dance from Radford University, a Professional Educators Certificate from the state of Florida Department of Education, and is a certified Pilates instructor through PhysicalMind Institute and Kathy Corey Pilates.

She has studied dance extensively with North Carolina School of the Arts, Virginia Intermont College, Richmond Ballet and Boston Ballet School. Her professional performing experience has been with Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Boston Dance Co., Impulse Dance Co., Mill Mountain Theatre and Southwest Virginia Ballet.

Sharon is proud to be a part of integrating dance education and creative endeavors in Northwest Florida for the past 18 years. Her past teaching experience has been with Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Department, Jeanette Neill Dance Studio-Boston, Fort Wayne Ballet, Florida Dance Association, and the University of West Florida. Her choreography has received recognition at Mamluft Dance Company in Cinncinatti and Panoply Arts Festival.

Sharon feels humbled and grateful to everyone at NFB, Bernadette Clements, Dorothy D. Lister, her husband Todd Eric Allen, her son Tristan Allen, her students, and loving family. She has a passion for children, animals, art, cooking and teaching dance for over 30 years. She currently performs in NFB productions in character roles as well as continuing to perform internationally with Lightwire Theater as seen on “America’s Got Talent.”